Saturday, September 1, 2007

Theme Day "Street Lights and Signs"



A timely and informative sign stands on SE Grand Avenue at Yamhill. Note the different-colored background behind the seven. Just how many delays should one expect?

090107_burnside_bridge_dusk_on_090307

(I've moved this photo here because I had the dates wrong in part of September. I tried to put the comments from it below here.) Caught in mid-message, the electronic sign makes it appear the bridge is closed. Actually, it's announcing the next multi-day closure as renovations continue on the bridge, the same one mentioned in my theme day post. The traffic signal changed to green, giving me no chance to take another shot; this one's sort of blurry, but I still like it quite a bit. Hope you do, too.

3 comments:

David said...
Hello Lynette and welcome to the city photo blogs from Explorer Dave at http://sarasotadailyphoto.com in FL.

I'm spent most of my life in Eugene OR, which I love, but if I where to ever move back to the Northwest it would likely be Portland. It is a very beautiful city. I'm looking forward to your posts, the will be sure to bring back many memories. Speaking of posts do you have a photo of post hole park?! For those who don't know that's an official city park in Portland where the whole park could fit in a close up photo!

It's one of the quirky things I like about Portland, plus all the fountains and Powell’s Books. Have fun with your blog.

All My Best.

David

September 4, 2007 10:53 AM
Lynette said...
Is this the park you talking about, David? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Ends_Park

Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm certainly enjoying Portland and my camera!

September 4, 2007 11:35 AM
David said...
I had the name a bit wrong, but yep that's the one!

And Portland is a great city to enjoy, even with all the gray skies and drizzle!

2 comments:

Gerald (SK14) said...

yes - expected to last a year and then two - do we know why repairs are taking so long?

welcome to the world of DP

Lynette said...

I hope that I have not jumped the gun with this because I have not received the confirmation e-mail.

As for the bridge, here's some information I found online--possibly more than you really want to know--from a Multnomah County news release, dated August 3, 2007:

The Burnside Bridge is scheduled to close to all users from 8:00 pm on Thursday, August 9 until Sunday morning, August 12 for repairs to the lift span. ... During the closure a contractor will install parts called live-load shoes that support the west lift span in the down position. The work will require the lift span to be in the open position. A barge-mounted crane will be used to install the parts, which will block passage for river traffic during the repair.

TriMet bus routes 12-Sandy, 19-Glisan and 20-Burnside will use the Morrison Bridge during the closure. Alternate river crossings include the Hawthorne, Morrison, Steel and Broadway bridges.

A three-week closure of the bridge for replacement of other lift span parts has been
postponed until mid-September. The contractor is re-designing a jacking system that will be used to lower a 3.8 million pound counterweight so that parts can be accessed and replaced. The bridge closure date will be announced by early September.

The Burnside Bridge is in the midst of a two-year project to replace the lift span deck and repair or replace parts that help the bridge open for river traffic. Multnomah County maintains the Burnside Bridge and more than 300 miles of roads and bridges."

The three-week closure had been delayed from July/August because jacking system didn't work.

So, looking at this information, perhaps I also jumped the gun in thinking that the project had run way over, leading to the odd seven. Since I only moved to Portland in June, 2006, I've not yet known the Burnside Bridge unencumbered by construction.